Prof. Yang Yongping, director of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) headed up a team of 6 members to Ecuador for a visit and exchange from November 16-25, at the invitation of Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam.

Prof. Yang Yongping had a discussion with Ms. María Victoria Reyes, president of Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam. The two sides expressed a strong desire for cooperation during the exchange, hoping to strengthen collaboration in the future in areas such as mutual visits and exchanges of researchers, joint training of graduate students, and research on biodiversity conservation and utilization of resource plants.

XTBG team then visited the balsa plantations and agroforestry systems such as cocoa in the eastern Amazon region and western coast of Ecuador, as well as the local Chinese-funded deep processing industry chain of balsa. They also held discussions with the Quito Botanical Garden in Ecuador on future germplasm exchanges and mutual visits and exchanges of personnel.

Through this visit, the lightweight wood project team gained a deep understanding of the balsa planting model, processing procedures, and management operation methods. This will provide important references for the future introduction and domestication research of balsa tree in XTBG. It also lays a solid foundation for future scientific research cooperation with scientific research institutions in South America.

At Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam.

At  Quito Botanical Garden 

At balsa plantations. 

At balsa breeding base.